Xbox 360 Games for Adults
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition
There be dragons ahead - and plenty of other fantastical beasties too, in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition. Set in the vast, Nordic inspired, snow-capped land of Skyrim, this epic role playing game thrusts you into a fantasy world full of turmoil. As the High King of Skyrim is found murdered, the kingdom is thrown into disarray - but then, something far more worrying happens. Dragons, who had once been all but extinct in the kingdom, return to skies wreaking havoc upon an already fragile land. The prophecies spoke of this day - a day when one, specific dragon would return and destroy the kingdom, with the only hope of stopping it being to find a special person - one born with the body of a mortal, but the soul of a dragon. The dragonborn. With hundreds of quests to complete, characters to befriend, and enough freedom that you can spend weeks playing through a group of side quests without even touching the main story, The Elder Scrolls V is a game that will last for as long as you want it to - and this Legendary Edition comes with even more things to do. Bundling the three official expansion packs together with the already expansive original game, this is arguably the "defining" Skyrim experience - and is one that'll keep you busy for months.
Buy this if they like: Lord of the Rings, Oblivion, Dungeons and Dragons
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The Walking Dead
A zombie game with a bit of a difference, The Walking Dead tells the tale of an unlikely duo forced together in the most extreme of circumstances - the university professor, Lee Everett, and the young girl called Clementine, who comes to rely on him for protection as a zombie outbreak hits Georgia. Essentially a point-and-click style adventure, The Walking Dead matches a heavy-hitting, emotional story with plenty of morally ambiguous decisions to make along the way, as your choices and conversation options directly effect how the game plays out, from your relationships with the other characters, to choosing who lives and who dies. As you make your way through the game, you'll collect useful items on your travels and use them to solve the game's puzzles, defeat plenty of zombies, and struggle to save both yourself, and young Clementine from the zombie hordes. With plenty of gore, and some demanding "quick time events", that ask you to press a button within a few seconds of it popping up on screen, this isn't one for the little ones - but if you have someone looking for a game with a good story and a reasonably relaxed pace, this could be a great pick. Available as either five episodic downloads for about £4 each or as a whole on a disc (linked below), The Walking Dead is a great choice.
Buy this if they like: Gripping stories, "choose your own" adventures, tear jerkers
For more, read our full review, or for more on the game's suitability, check out our Parent's Guide
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Alice: Madness Returns
An amazing platform/action game that desperately needs more love, Alice: Madness Returns is an oldie but a goodie - and a great budget pick. A twisted take on Lewis Caroll's childrens' story, the game stars the mentally troubled Alice Liddell, fresh out of a lunatic asylum, and still carrying the scars of her family's untimely fiery death. Her mind in tatters, she retreats into her mental 'wonderland' once more, but in her absence things have changed. Visiting the Mad Hatter, Mock Turtle and the Caterpillar (among others), she sets about returning her mind to it's former glory, hopefully regaining her sanity in the process. A surreal Tim Burton-esque adventure through the twisted and torn wonderland (with occasional glimpses into the real world), there's plenty of secrets to hunt out, nooks and crannies to explore and puzzles to solve, as you fill the nightmarish monsters full of pepper from your gatling-gun-like Pepper Grinder, smash them into next week with your bludgeoning Hobby Horse or simply slash them with her trademark Vorpal Blade - a decorated kitchen knife dripping with blood. With decapitations and fairly gratuitous gore, this isn't one for kids, but is a much overlooked game that could be a great - and cost effective present. And as an added bonus, you also get a download code for the original Alice game included in the box - effectively giving you two for the price of one. Bargain.
Buy this if they like: Tim Burton films, hack-and-slash adventures, dark stories
For more, read our full review, or for more on the game's suitability, check out our Parent's Guide.
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The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
A game that does justice to the legacy of Conan Doyle's famous detective, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a dark and gripping mystery with plenty of twists and turns, as Holmes and his erstwhile assistant Watson try to get to the bottom of some exceedingly gruesome murders. A slower-paced point and click adventure, you'll spend most of your time wandering the cobbled streets of Victorian London searching for clues, chatting to people and examining the victims' corpses for hints, using the evidence you discover to deduce your way through the story. When you're not cornering a criminal, there's even some Professor Layton-esque puzzles to be solved, whether you're moving a knight around a chess board in such a way as that every square gets stepped on once only, or spotting some fairly obscure patterns between number sequences in order to enter the missing the number to unlock a box. With a story that'll keep you hooked until the final credits roll, get ready to strap on your deer-stalker, pick up your magnifying glass and join the famous detective in his most poisonous case yet this Christmas.
Buy this if they like: Sherlock Holmes, detective stories, puzzles, the word "elementary"
For more, read our full review, or for more on the game's suitability, check out our Parent's Guide
Buy The Testament of Sherlock Holmes from Amazon
